Defending Washington's Waters

At risk: Puget Sound, the Columbia River and other vital waters

Right now, countless streams of acres of wetlands are vulnerable to pollution and development. Polluters can dump garbage into streams, developers can pave over wetlands to build strip malls, and the cops on the environmental beat can’t do a thing about it. And it’s not just small streams and wetlands that will suffer — these waterways are the same ones that feed Puget Sound, the Columbia and other vital waters.

Polluters poke holes in Clean Water Act

For nearly 40 years, the Clean Water Act has helped Washington — and states across the nation — care for and clean up our waterways. Thanks in large part to this groundbreaking law, rivers are no longer so polluted that they catch fire, as Ohio’s Cuyahoga infamously did in 1969. Still, much work remains to be done. We need to do more to protect our waters — not less. 

Unfortunately, over the past decade, polluters and irresponsible developers have used the courts to put Clean Water Act protections in legal limbo, arguing that the law doesn’t cover the smaller streams and wetlands that feed and clean Puget Sound. They want to throw out nearly 40 years of Clean Water Act protection, leaving polluting industries free to dump into our streams and pave over our wetlands without asking for permission.

At the same time, Puget Sound is threatened by sewage overflows — more than 230 overflows a year in King County alone feed directly into Puget Sound and other waterways, dumping 690 million gallons of untreated sewage into our waters.

The EPA can protect our water, but Congress threatens to stand in the way

Since 2006, we have been urging Congress to protect Puget Sound by simply declaring that the Clean Water Act applies to all of Washington’s — and America’s — waters. But, stymied at every turn by industry lobbyists and powerful special interests, we turned instead to the EPA for action. 

This spring, we submitted more than 20,000 petitions to Administrator Lisa Jackson, urging her to restore protections to all of our waters. In April, she announced a plan to do just that. The EPA also moved to update clean water standards to deal more effectively with sewage overflows. But polluters’ allies in Congress won’t give up — and now they’re threatening to stop the EPA from doing its job. 

At the same time, powerful corporate interests are preparing for battle: ExxonMobil threatened “legal warfare” if the EPA moves forward with its plan to restore Clean Water Act protections. 

Our plan to defend Washington’s waters 

We refuse to let polluters and their allies in Congress open our precious waterways to more dumping and development. We’re bringing together Washingtonians from all walks of life to protect Puget Sound, the Columbia and all of our waters. From anglers to white-water enthusiasts, clergy to scientists, local officials to ordinary families, we all have a stake in keeping our water clean. 

If we’re going to push past ExxonMobil and other powerful polluters, we’re going to need everyone who cares about Washington’s water to get involved. Join our campaign by sending the EPA a message today.